Snapchat could see major updates following poor earnings reports

Snap takes big risk on changes to stories

In the wake of abysmal performance for the third quarter due to lower-than-estimated user growth and revenue, Snap will focus on updating their app to make it easier to use.

Specifically, Snap shares in a letter to investors that it wants to target people who are slightly older. Currently, an average Snapchat user is between 13 and 34 years old. Already covering 70% of this age group in the US, UK, Australia, and France, Snap really does not have much choice but to try and attract an older crowd or look to other countries that may not have as valuable ad revenue.

Not only does Snap want to target consumers over 34 years old, it specifically will focus on Android users. By improving the performance of the Android app over the past several updates, Snap says that "significantly more Android users [were] added than iOS users in September, we wish we had done this sooner." It is possible that a large number of iOS users already use Snapchat, or that the increase in Snapchat users is occurring in regions where iPhones are too expensive to be widely used.

With a fairly substantial redesign incoming, Snap is putting itself in a prime position for receiving user backlash. Through the use of machine learning, reorganizing how stories are displayed to users will be an attempt to further engage audiences. Since stories are such a core feature to Snapchat, it will be no surprise if many users decide to turn to Instagram or other social media if they are not pleased by new changes.

Even though Snap Inc. is not doing very well financially at this time, Snapchat will not be going away anytime soon. Over 3.5 billion Snaps are sent daily with average users opening the app 25 times a day. Snapchat holds the title of most used camera app globally and accounts for more pictures taken daily than any other camera or service.